Setting The Agape Framework

All right, welcome back. I am just so kind of excited to get back into this. And I ended up in the first scene, we're talking about the community of Agapau. But before I jump in here, let me just bring us up to par here because in this these next couple of episodes, we're talking about the early church and the practice of agape. Now, remember, agapow is love or agape flowing through the vessel or through people out towards others. So it is that divine love that flows from in us, that fills us, and then flows out to us. And it's important for us to realize that. So if you haven't listened to the episode before this one, I'm going to recommend you go listen to the previous episode because I'm going to pick right back up in the book of Acts, because what we were talking about was movement one. And it was important to understand that the first movement of Agapow, because we wanted to see how Agapau worked amongst people. Like what was the movement? So we're going to do a survey of the New Testament, the Gospels we already did. We're going through the New Testament. So we're going to be in the book of Acts. I'm going to do this one on Acts, and then we're going to flow through some of Paul's writings, and then we're going to get into John. But the key here is movement one is this is when Agapow becomes a way of life, or when love and action becomes a way of life. And what we what we went through here is we understand that through the filling, the day of Pentecost, when when the Spirit of God was poured out, it it helped them actually be able to step out of their own way, right? And I think that's the key for us. But something happened immediately after Pentecost when most people don't really pay attention to it. Because in Pentecost, we see that the Spirit of God was poured out. But what the Holy Spirit produced in the community was not a religious institution. And I said that, right? We know that the church was birthed, but it wasn't a religious institution. It was a GAPO. It was embodied daily and visible. The visible presence of God flowing through people is what transformed the environment. So I want to jump in here really quick. I'm going to jump in and I want to talk about scene two in the second part of Acts. And I'm going to hit two points in Acts. And what I want to do is I'm going to go to Acts chapter 4, verse 32 through 35. And what I'm going to do is I want to read it. Acts 4, 32. I want to read it first. And we want to practice some sacred reading. So I'm going to read from 32 to 35. And I want you to just listen, use your ears to hear, and see if we can pick up how Agaphao, love and action, is flowing out. So verse 32 says it this way: it says, All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had. With great power, the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And God's grace was powerfully at work in them all. That there were no needy persons among them. For from time to time, those who owned land or houses sold them, brought the money from the sale, and put it at the apostles' feet, and it was distributed to anyone who was in need. I want to stop right there. Because here's what I want to, I want to I want to first break this down here. No one claimed anything as their own. Now we see that this moves into an aspect of communal living, but there are some key points that I want to bring out. I don't know if you heard them, but they popped out for me. First 32 says, all the believers were one in heart and mind. I want you to think about that statement right there. All the believers were one, were in unity in heart and mind. So from a from an internal conscious perspective, they were in agreement. And only agape, only agape can actually do that, can create that. Because they were living in their belovedness. They had received the fact that they were the beloved of God. It didn't matter who they were, they knew the commonality was they had the same father. The eternal father God declared love for them. And Jesus, through the resurrection, came back to identify and to say to them that you are loved. And not only that, he said, I'm not going to leave you as an orphan. I'm not going to leave you alone. I'm going to send you a comfort. I'm going to send you confirmation that is going to be with you always. Not just with a couple of individuals, like in the Old Testament. He's going to live in all of us. And in the very beginning of the birth of the church, we see this focus right here. It said, all the believers were in one in heart and mind. And what I love about this is the next verse that comes down when you look at 33, look what happens here. It says, with great power, the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. They did not testify of themselves, they testified of the Lord Jesus, of the resurrection, because Jesus' resurrection is to let us know that if we are willing to die or to allow ourselves to be emptied out, we can live in the resurrection power of the Lord Jesus Christ. More on this to come. But I want you to catch the great power. It wasn't their power, it was a Gapow working through them. The love of God was flowing through the apostles. Why? Because they were all willing in one heart and one mind. And as we keep reading right there, what's the next thing it says? And God's grace, you see what Luke did here. He said, with great power the apostles continue to testify. So now we see that the agape of God that's inside, the infilling of agape, filling us up, produces a power or produces an authority that allows us that are operating in God. That's what the apostles represent, to do the work of what is needed. And it's not considered work, it is actually considered flowing. Let me say that. That's what this is saying. This is saying this in everything right here with great power. The apostles continued. Now, when you drop down, the next sentence says God's grace. So we know that it wasn't in their strength. They were not operating out of a willfulness or willpower or their own strength. They realized they had no strength. Everything that they were depending on was gone. They only had the visible presence of God to hold on to. Look, look, look. It says, in them all, not all people, not some. I want you to catch this. Not some, but all of them. That there were no needy persons among them. Think about that. So nobody had a need that wasn't taken care of. Notice it didn't say a want. Everybody had what they needed in order to sustain what God was doing in the present moment in and through them. So I want you to see this now. So let me break this down for you with a little bit more clarity because the first thing is one in heart and mind, no one claimed anything as their own. This is the communal expression of agape tos, right? Our belovedness made visible in agape in love and action. This is it, right? And let me think about it this way. What is one way that we get to see this type of love flowing in the church today? Right? We call it what? Tides and offerings. But what I want you to understand, tides and offerings is not what was happening here in Acts. They gave everything. All that they operated in, all that they had, they brought it together so that everyone could experience the same thing. But in today's, in our contemporary life, we give tithes and offerings right for what now? It's to make sure that the ministry or the church continues to flow and do what things need to be done. But I want you to see something. Right here, we get to see one of the ordained callings for the church. We don't talk about it much, but the ordained calling of the church was to be that place where needs could be met. And I'm not just talking about spiritual needs, I am talking about physical needs. And the only way that that happens is because the people gave, and out of what was received, they didn't hold on to it. They gave it right back out. Do you see that? That's a gapow. They received, filled the vessel, and then released it out. You see, and here's the case: when a person or when people are fully rooted and grounded in the identity of the beloved, this is where I want you to get. Agap how is becomes visible when people are fully rooted and grounded in the identity or in their identity of their beloved or the belovedness. When they know at the deepest level that they are held, cherished, and already given everything in Christ, possessions lose their grip. When they know that God is the one that is flowing and working in them, and they know that they're cherished by God, and they know that like Christ, He gave everything and that they have given all that they can and given everything, possessions lose their grip. You won't be holding on to something when you realize that God is everything. You won't have a scarcity mindset if you've been living in presence with God. And this is reflecting from a communal perspective. So individually, if you are living in that spaciousness of God, you bring your spaciousness to church. And I bring my spaciousness to church. And before you know it, everyone in the body, the local body and the body of Christ, begins to understand that there is no limit to God. There is, there's no end. God is never going to run out of resources. Because this is the key. Why must me understand this? Because possessions are tightly held by people's people whose identity are most insecure or fragile. If you don't know who you are in God, it's very difficult to release. So the only way that we learn to let go or to release is to do what? Is to be intentional about our time in God and allowing God to expand our awareness. First of all, to bring our attention to what is important and to allow us to start to see God's presence or his presence in everything that we're doing. Didn't it say in Acts, it says we live, breathe, and have our being because of God, in whom we live, breathe, and have our being. So every breath we take is a result of God's agape for us. And here's what I'm saying: I'm seeing us because all humanity breathes the air that God provides. But the difference between a believer is we recognize and we acknowledge that it is God, our Father, my Father, that is providing the air we breathe. So when we're in a corporate setting, it goes, Our Father, our Father who art in heaven. Hallow it be thy name. Praise be your name. You see the hour. But when it's me and God together, he's my father. It's personal, it's intimate. And only agape and resting in agape tos, our belovedness, can produce this because between agape tos and agape is agapean the forming, the shaping of that love inside of us. That's the process that God has some of us in right now. And we let me say this to you: you don't get to the end of it. When you think you're at the end, no, let go and keep resting in God because there is no end to this process of us learning to be shaped in agape. As long as we're on this earth, we are always going to be shaped by God, by agape, that we can be that willing vessel that agape, that the agape of God may flow out of us to others. We are the chosen vessels. Humanity is the chosen vessel for which agape flows out to others. Period. And I want you to grab a hold of this. I want you to understand how important it is to realize that our calling as a believer, as a beloved of God that has accepted our belovedness, we are to become the sacred vessel of God that can be filled with agape in order for it to flow out to others. And that's what I want you to get out of agape. Get this, see how this is flowing in the early church. Now, let me say something about the protective self here because it's important when we're operating in our flesh or we're operating in willpower and we haven't been uh fully formed, and the and the flesh and the old man is still working. This is what happens. The protective self accumulates, it holds on to, it stores, it builds hedges. Why? Because it requires a safety net of resources, of approvals, and influence to feel secure. Because you still, the protective self is still trying to operate in its own understanding, but the beloved self anchored in agape toes, our belovedness in God gives freely because its security is not located in what it possesses, our security is located in being possessed by agape. I want you to get that. Or I would say it this way: being filled to the brim by agape. God's grace was so powerfully at work that there were no needs among the people. Can you imagine this today if there was no needs among anyone in the church? That there was so much of an overflow that we would be able to provide for those without homes and those people that are in desperate need, that the church would be the resource, not the government, but the church would be the resource. Think about this for a moment. No needy person or people in need among them. And how is it? They were being persecuted, they were being scattered, and yet they had no needs. Because Agapau as a Community practice doesn't just change individuals. I want you to get this. It restructures the social reality around them. I want you to see, I want you to get this. Agapau as a community practice where all the individuals are one in heart and mind, it doesn't just change individuals, it restructures the social reality around them. Where the people are so focused on the love flowing out, it changes the environment. This is the pattern of agape tan at a community level, of belovedness at a community level, a people so formed by agape that agapeo continues to flow through them collectively into the needs of the world. And now what I want to do here is I want to slowly go over to Acts chapter 11 because we know what transpired in Acts chapter 5, right? Ananias and Safari shows up, and we we recognize that, but we want to stay focused on how agapow is flowing. And I want to I want to take a moment here just to let you see Barnabas. I want you to see how the love, the agape of God was flowing in individuals in the early church. You have to grab a hold of what God is sharing with us here because it is so important. And we know when we get to Acts chapter 11, we realize Peter has already had the vision. And he gets a revelation from God that there is no separation in God. Peter gets this now. So now the impact of agape, the agape, the agape of God, and them receiving their belovedness. Now you got to understand, when you get to Acts, what we're seeing here now in Acts 10 and 11, this is a 10-year process. We're seeing 10 years after the church, and they finally are starting to live in their belovedness outside of their comfort zone. I really hope you see this. I really hope you connect this to when God told Abraham to leave his family, leave the land of his generation, to leave that and go to a place that I will show you. Every believer, in order for agape to flow in us, we are going to have to leave the comforts of what we know. We are going to have to be willing to leave the comforts of what we know. And I'm saying what we know about God or what we even think we know about God, we have to be willing, have a heart that is willing and open to let go of what we know that God may fill us with what is needed in the moment. So I want you to look at what goes on in Antioch, right? Because that to me is the key. So I'm in Acts chapter 11, verse 19. And I want to just read a little bit here, and I'll take a moment to break some key points down, but I want you to see Agapau in motion. So now you're going to see Agapitan, the belovedness that has been formed inside of the believer. So now look what happens here. It says, now those who had been scattered by the persecution that broke out when Stephen was killed traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch, spreading the word among the Jews. Now look, verse 20. It says, Some of them, however, men from Cyprus and Crete went to Antioch and began to speak to the Greeks, also telling them the good news about the Lord Jesus. Now, here's the point. If you didn't catch this, you would think that this was a good idea. No, this is a gap, agape, I'm sorry, agape in action. This is the outward moving of love. Instead of them going to what they already knew, they began to speak to the Greeks. Why? Because they receive the message of agape from Peter that there is no distinction, that God is the God of humanity. And some notice it didn't give the name, it said some of them. However, you see that some of them was led by the filling of God in them, and they began to speak to the Greeks. And here is how you know it. What does verse 21 say? It said, The Lord's hand was with them. I want you to catch this. Look at how Luke is describing this. He said, The Lord's hand was with them, and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord. So that word turn is metanoia. Remember how we talked about it? It wasn't just a turning from a sinful nature, it was a turning of consciousness, it was a turning of what they thought intellectually, it was a complete turning of all of them, all of their personhood, their spirit, soul, and body turned to what? To the Lord. But now look what happens here in verse 22. And news of this, you see, watch this now. News of this reached the church in Jerusalem. And they sent Barnabas to Antioch. So now you see a Gapow in motion here. So it reaches the church in Jerusalem, and they says, okay, we need to send someone. And they sent Barnabas to Antioch. Barnabas' name means encourager. Barnabas was the encourager. But here's what I want you to see. I want you to see now. Pay close attention to what happens onward from here. When he, Barnabas, arrived and saw what the grace of God had done, I want you to catch this now. He recognized this was not human willpower or human effort doing this. He said, This is the grace of God. So now when I when you see someone say the grace of God, I want you to to get the picture. It is agapow. The agape of God is the agape of God filling the vessel that it may flow out to others. That's God's grace. We can't fill ourselves. It is only through the grace of God that we get filled to the brim. Remember the miracle at Cana. Jesus told the servants, fill the container. That right there is the identity of obedience. I just want to make sure that you tie this together. So 23 again, when he arrived and saw what the grace of God had done, he was glad and encouraged them. Look now, encouraged them all to remain true to the Lord with all their hearts. Do you see the connection? And verse 4, they were one in mind and heart. And now Paul, I mean, now Barnabas, Luke is writing about Barnabas, he's saying, for them to remain true. What does that mean? To remain in their belovedness, to keep themselves empty in the secret place. That's what heart is. Heart is the place that is the innermost part of our being. And here's what we what we see in verse 24. It says, He was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith, and a great number of people were brought to the Lord. Verse 25 says, Now look what happens here. I want you to see something here. It says, Then Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul. That's not a human movement. That is a Godow pouring out because Barnabas remembers Paul because God had filled him with that need or that desire to go find Paul. And look what he look what he says here. He says, Then Barnabas went to Tarsus and looked for Saul, and when he found him, he brought him to Antioch. Now we see Agapal reaching out to the individual now. Because Paul was in Tarsus, because he didn't feel that he was a part of what was going on. But God had Paul, I want you to catch this now. God separates Paul so that he can work on Paul in Tarsus. And at the Kairos time, he sends Barnabas to go get Saul to bring him back to Antioch. Now you're catching this. So now you got Barnabas and Saul in Antioch, but look what happens here. So for a whole year, Barnabas and Saul met with the church and taught great numbers of people. You see, look what transpired here. What did he teach them? We know he taught about the resurrection. We know he taught about their belovedness in the Lord. And over a year's period of time, what you begin to see is belovedness being formed into a gapitan. So that what? So that love can begin to flow out, so that the vessel now can be filled. And here is the great testimony right here. It says in the latter part of that verse, it says the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch. I I want, I, I, I, I so hope you understand what this sentence does. Not in Jerusalem, it was in Antioch, where the diversity of ethnicity and the diversity of people were in the church, and under the teaching, they were first called Christians, Christ-like. Do you get that? And now, how do I know what they were talking about? Let's just keep reading, and I'm gonna end on this one right here. It says, During this time, some prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch. Verse 28 says, one of them, named Ababas, stood up and through the Holy Spirit predicted that a severe famine would spread over the entire Roman world. Now, in parentheses in my Bible, it says this happened during the reign of Claudius. But look what the disciples do. I just hope you're catching all this. It says, the disciples, as each one was able, decided to provide help for the brothers and sisters living in Judea. Now they're calling them brothers and sisters. Now they're starting to recognize that it goes beyond cultural recognition. Because once you start to see the belovedness of God in others, everything changes. Everything changes when you can recognize that the same God that's dwelling in you is dwelling in them. And that is part of the process of moving from the beloved to identity expressed, the gapitan, and a gap how love flowing out of you. To have the divine love of God flow out of us, God will work in us that we are that we and that people are no respecter of person. God so loved the world that He gave the world and everything in it. So my prayer for you after this, and I just want you to really begin to sit in recognizing the movement from your belovedness to having that identity of belovedness formed in you. What is God asking of you? What is God revealing to you that is not of the belovedness, that is not of his nature being formed in you, that you can be filled to the brim. And God is not, He's He's not, and here let me say this when God reveals something to you and us through the Holy Spirit, it doesn't come with condemnation. So if you are feeling condemnation, then recognize that that is not, I'm not saying it's it's it's uh it's a revealing, so take the information but not the condemnation. Because if it's coming with the guilt or shame, that's not God bringing guilt or shame to you. That's the flesh that's getting nervous, that's the old man, that's the protective self that's trying to fight its way out of this because it's starting to lose ground. And I know most of you that are listening to this episode, if you've been with me long enough, you are creating a huge amount of space for agape to fill. And you have seen the move of God in your life. And the more God starts to move in your life, the more your old self is going to try to hold on to what it once had. But I'm telling you that God is moving in your life, and as a result of that moving, he's asking you gently, and he's asking you from a willingly perspective are you willing to let go of all those things that he's been revealing to you? Are you willing to trust him and let go? Because we understand that multiplication comes through subtraction, and I pray that these two episodes in Acts would stir something in you, that the visible presence of God would move on you, and that you would be brave and have the courage to say, Lord, yes, I will, I will give up my comfort, I will let go of what I know. Father, I thank you right now for what you have done, that these words that have gone forward may they be like a hammer breaking down the wall or a chisel breaking through to shed light on any area that you so witch, so desire for individuals to let go. And I thank you, Lord, for revealing those things and that your love is present in those revealing. Why? Because Agape wants to fill us to the brim, that it may overflow in our lives out to others. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. In our next session, we're gonna go and we're gonna dive in a little bit. We're gonna talk about Paul, Paul's letters. We're not gonna do it all. I'm gonna hit some key points in Romans and some of the other books, but so that we can see a Godow flowing out. And until next time, keep living daily for Christ.